Major I-90 westbound bridge work starts hours from now

We wanted to join the chorus of reminders in case you’re an Eastside commuter. This wouldn’t affect you till you come home tomorrow, but here’s the heads-up, since WSDOT just issued this reminder:

Beginning tomorrow, commuters will face two weeks of long delays across the I-90 floating bridge as WSDOT begins extensive repair work. Crews will close all westbound mainline lanes of I-90 and funnel traffic into the two express lanes.

The westbound I-90 closures actually start at 4 pm today. Here’s the project page; here’s the WSDOT page for “what’s happening now.” ADDED SUNDAY NIGHT: Some extra info from WSDOT:

The “Bellevue to Seattle” and “Issaquah to Seattle” travel times on the WSDOT Web page will not display accurately for the next few weeks due to construction to replace aging expansion joints on the I-90 floating bridge.

*www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/seattle/traveltimes
*www.wsdot.wa.gov/Traffic/seattle/Traveltimes/commutes/BellevueSeattle90.htm
*www.wsdot.wa.gov/Traffic/seattle/Traveltimes/commutes/IssaquahSeattle.htm
Travel times are created from data collected by electronic vehicle detectors imbedded in the highway. To complete repair work on to the I-90 floating bridge, crews must reconfigure and shift lanes. However, this means vehicles will not be traveling over the directly over the electronic traffic detectors and our computer systems will be unable to generate an accurate travel times.

Traffic engineers in the Seattle Traffic Management Center will calculate “Bellevue to Seattle” and “Issaquah to Seattle” travel times manually every 60 – 90 minutes. These travel times will be posted on the “What’s Happening Now” construction Web page: www.wsdot.wa.gov/construction/2009/today

christopherboffoli July 5, 2009 (5:45 pm)

I just came home through there around 4:30pm on Sunday. It did slow to a stop just after the 405 interchange where the lanes reduced to one. But it wasn’t as bad as we thought it might be. We considered alternate routes but the traffic on the GPS showed yellow and green for most of the way so we decided to go for it. After a brief wait at the lane reduction the traffic seemed to be moving at a steady 20-30mph. Maybe added 10-15 minutes to the trip and the slowest part only lasted for about 2 miles.

D.A. July 5, 2009 (6:07 pm)

When they did bridge work on 90 a few month ago in the WB direction, even EB traffic was impacted. So yes, even though it’s only the WB lanes being worked on, expect delays going east too. I am planning to work from home at least 3 days a week to help keep my sanity.

changingtimes July 5, 2009 (7:41 pm)

omg bad day to be shopping in bellevue! took me an hour to get from the mall home!

rockergirl July 6, 2009 (9:24 am)

Anyone commuting to Bellevue who wants to join our carpool let me know – we leave Avalon at 6:30 am and head back from Bellevue at 4 pm in the afternoon – we have room for 2 people who want to share driving to and from the north east Bellevue area or downtown Bellevue corridor. email me at rockergirl5678@yahoo.com

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